Best way to get into medicinal chemistry?

[Kheldd]

Hello!

I'm first year pharmacy student at the moment. I got into pharmacy because I thought going for master degree on pharmaceutical chemistry (and maybe doctoral too) would get me to the field of research.

Then I did some research after and I found many forum posts saying that industry and research groups take organic and synthetic chemists rather than pharmaceutical chemists graduated from pharmacy.

So should I continue on pharmacy or change to organic chemistry? Or what would be the best way to get into pre-clinical work? I like both chemistry and biology. We also have biochemistry/biotech master degree available. Or maybe organic chemistry with pharmacy courses as secondary subject.

I like also studying pharmacy but I don't want to work on drugstore as we have mandatory training period on there taking half a year.

Thank you for any tips.

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[aar44]

Hi there,

Like you, I do not want to work in an drugstore(thats retail for you). I have worked in the industry for an year as an QC Chemist and it sounds to me the best course of action for you since you want to do research is an PhD. Do you want to work on an bench? If you do pursue an Masters in Pharmaceutical Science or Chemistry, you will work as an scientist for big companies. You can go into quality control or research and development. And with an PhD, you will not be in debt. If you have an passion for research, I would do an PhD. It can be great for you. Pharmacy is an great field to go into as well. You can go into compounding pharmacy which pharmacist make their own medicine. I know an company that does that. I just turn down an job there to work in an lab but alot of the pharmacists are constantly compounding(24 hours) and they make medicine for hospitals. Does that sounds like something you want to be involved in? Or do you want to be involved in cutting edge research? I want to work in the pharmaceutical industry, I have no idea if I want to go into clinical yet...I know time will tell. But for you, I would suggest interning. Have you worked as an researcher? It is not too late to apply to positions for the summer. The only way you know what you want to do is if you work in the industry. I know alot of pharmd students who do not want to work in the industry, they are quite happy working in retail or in the hospital and that is totally fine. I attached an guide from pfizer about the careers in pharmacy. I know this will give you some insight cause pharmacy is NOT about working in retail. I am sorry but that does not attract me either. And like you, I wanted to go into pharmaceutical chemistry as well, I was determined to get my masters degree from my university but then I had an internship and that changed my perspective. But if you really like research, you can do an PharmD/PhD...it might take some time to focus but it is designed for students who have an passion for research and development. I hope this gave you some insight but it is up to you what you want to do.

https://wubio.wustl.edu/files/biology/imce/pfizerpharmacycareerguide.pdf

 

[Kheldd]

Thanks for the reply and guide! I'll take look into it. What did you study then if that internship changed your mind?

I'm not very interested in hospital pharmacy nor in clinical work. I'm more interested in chemistry or biology behind that. E: So yes, I would like to work in lab too.

I don't have any experience as working as an researcher because this is my first year and I have thought they don't really take undergraduate pharmacy students. And sadly we don't have many lab courses in pharmacy degree (we are like preparing for retail work rather than research), chemistry/biochem have those labs much more. I'll try to apply for every position I can find.

I found this from Novartis:
https://sjobs.brassring.com/tgwebhost/jobdetails.aspx?partnerid=13617&siteid=5260&jobid=2446756
Something like that would be more like it that I would like to do (I'm from EU, so just example.). There seems to be "degree in chem sciences" req in every med chem job apply page. So it seems that master in chemistry would be better...but I don't know if pharmacy degree would be enough.

 

[aar44]

No problem. I was an bio-analyst intern for Novartis actually, in New Jersey. The internship was geared towards R&D and even the lab head told me that he is looking for PharmD students to bring on. Alot of pharma companies want to hire PharmD since they have more knowledge than PhD student on drug development. When I was there I evaluated dried plasma spot cards, which are used in clinical trials or at the time they wanted to test the efficiency of these cards using different storage conditions. Anyways, I did like it for some time and it was the reason I wanted to be an chemist but working in quality control will really change your mind. I would rather work in research and development. I studied biochemistry throughout undergraduate, at some point I wanted to pursue an PhD in Biochemistry or Immunology but I did research at my university for an year and I was turn off. I always knew I wanted an career in healthcare.

Honestly, anyone can be an researcher you just need some knowledge on chemistry and how drugs work. Anyone can be an chemist as well. You can even intern, I would do that if I were you just to get an idea what you will get yourself into. Speaking from someone who has done research, it is an great career. It is different from working in retail and hospital, since your goals are geared towards R&D, I would pursue that. As for not having enough lab courses, that is fine. An Masters degree will provide you with lab classes since you will be learning about instrumental techniques such as HPLC, UV/VIS and etc. I do believe you like working in research...and you can still become an pharmaceutical scientist with an PharmD degree as well. The pharmaceutical industry loves pharmacy students. The job you posted above, will require more than an Masters degree...but you can get research positions without an PhD too. Alot of people who work at Regeneron and Pfizier have research positions and do not have an Masters degree, you can too. I hope that helps.